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A while ago, I came across an article citing examples of how court papers could be served on someone using Facebook as the means. It's an interesting idea, but I don't think it will become the norm. After all, it is fairly easy to open up a fake account and say that a person was served, even though it is not one and the same person, nor even an actual person sometimes.
In Ontario, there are much stricter rules for service, which have all been codified in the Rules of Civil Procedure. The rules are fairly clear, but non-compliance is ... |
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| Posted by Brian Kwan at | | | |
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The Toronto Star is reporting that January home sales are down 50% compared to last year. The article cites several reasons, including the fact that last year purchasers were scrambling to complete transactions before the City of Toronto Land Transfer Tax was implemented, thus increasing the number of sales.
Historically, I haven't seen many purchases between January through March. Usually March is when I typically have more people making inquiries about buying or selling a home. In 2007, I remember not having many transactions and getting started into blogging around that time. At that time, many other lawyers felt things ... |
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| Posted by Brian Kwan at | | | |
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The Bank of Canada recently lowered it's key lending rate, meaning that banks can borrow for lower rates. In the past, this usually meant savings for people looking to purchase a home or refinance an existing one. Today, it doesn't mean much if you are in the market for a mortgage.
Up until a few months ago, many borrowers were receiving discounts on the bank's prime rate. I would see many clients with an interest rate of Prime minus 0.75%. At the time, the prime rate was around 5%, meaning that they would effectively be paying 4.25% Recently, I have ... |
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| Posted by Brian Kwan at | | | |
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| I know that for a lot of people, Twitter is nothing new. Even when I first saw the concept, I didn't really buy into. In fact, I saw this comic from the Penny Arcade that parodied how Twitter works (Note: the link has some coarse language in it, so discretion is key). But recently, I was looking at some CES coverage in Las Vegas and many blogs were providing real time coverage by way of Twitter. For those who are not familiar with Twitter, it basically works like the status update portion of Facebook, but with the ability to broadcast it ... |
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| Posted by Brian Kwan at | | | |
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As shown through many media outlets, President Obama of the United States used a BlackBerry to remain in communication during his campaign. However, the White House is concerned with potential security issues revolving around the use of the BlackBerry device, despite the security features and encryption built into the system.
So what is a messaging fanatic to do? CNet has posted an article outlining the options for NSA approved secure messaging devices. None of these solutions involve using RIM's technology, and none are generally affordable to the average consumer.
While very few of my matters require such a high level of ... |
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| Posted by Brian Kwan at | | | |
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With the current credit and housing situations, many lawyers are reporting increased power of sale enforcement actions. Usually when this occurs, lawyers must go back to their files which can be two, three or four years old. Sometimes even more. Lenders will sometimes want additional documentation in addition to the items provided on closing. Obviously, this involves time and work by lawyers for which they will likely not be paid.
A similar problem has fallen upon many independent ISPs in the United States, where the RIAA has asked these providers to remove users. Jerry Scroggin, an owner of a small ... |
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| Posted by Brian Kwan at | | | |
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A new year, and a new post. Maybe I should have made a new year's resolution to update the blog more often, but I don't like making resolutions that I can't keep.
While on my way home, I heard on the radio that the City of Toronto is looking to extend the Yonge-University-Spadina line to go into Richmond Hill. While this may be a great idea in theory, it carries a hefty price tag that Toronto taxpayers will likely be stuck with.
While the province may provide funding for the construction, the City of Toronto inevitably will have difficulty making ends ... |
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| Posted by Brian Kwan at | | | |
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Recently, I've been suffering from some dizziness while working on the computer. I learned that I had problems with my neck, which resulted from using a laptop too much. In order to build an ergonomic solution, I decided that I should move to a desktop system. The positioning of the keyboard and monitor would help fix most of my problems.
After going online to HP and Teranet to verify compatibility with my existing hardware and software, I decided to take the plunge. I purchased an Intel dual-core system with 4 GB of RAM, 500 GB HD, 22" wide screen LCD and ... |
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| Posted by Brian Kwan at | | | |
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So it's been a while since I posted. Changes were anticipated, but we've hit a snap with that. More on that another time. Contrary to popular (well, popular relative to my readership)
belief, I was not on vacation but busy working on things for clients. I'm actually writing this while awaiting a client who is very late for his appointment.
Since my last post at the end of July, I've had a lot of things to write about, ranging from issues of foreclosures to the Olympic games to real estate fraud. While some of those things have become
outdated (like the ... |
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| Posted by Brian Kwan at | | | |
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As regular readers know, the summer is my busy time, so I haven't had much of a chance to update my blog (or my website for that matter). Once again, I'll have to work my way back up the Google rankings again.
This post is less of an article or typical blog post, but more of a service announcement. In the next few weeks, significant changes will be coming to my website and my blog. Since there may be hosting changes involved, expect some moments of inaccessibility to both sites. I apologize in advance for the inconvenience, but I think that ... |
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| Posted by Brian Kwan at | | | |
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